Journalists report being attacked, obstructed in Egypt

New York, August 13, 2013--At least four journalists have been
attacked, threatened, or obstructed while covering sit-ins held by supporters
of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, according to news reports. The sit-ins
began in the lead-up to the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi, the
reports said.

"The Muslim Brotherhood must send a clear signal to all its members
and supporters that journalists must be allowed to cover their demonstrations
and activities without fear for their safety," said CPJ Deputy Director Robert
Mahoney. "All political groups in Egypt have a duty to ensure the safety of
journalists and indeed must go a step further by ensuring that journalists can
work freely at this critical time."

Mohammed Momtaz, an editor for the news website Veto, said
that apparentMorsi supporters abducted him on August 9
while he was covering a march in Giza that was headed to the sit-in at Nahda
Square, according to the website.

Momtaz said his abductors took him in a car to Nahda Square, where assailants
beat him, photographed him naked, and threatened to publish the photographs, he
toldAl-Youm
Al-Saba'a. He was released a few hours later, he said. Veto later published
photos and videos that showed
bruises and contusions on Momtaz's face and body.

On the same day, another journalist, Aya Hassan, a video editor for
Al-Youm Al-Saba'a, also reported being detained and attacked by
supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood while covering the march to Nahda Square,
Al-Youm Al-Saba'a reported. The editor said that she was attacked while
recording Muslim Brotherhood supporters beating anti-Morsi protesters and that her
camera was stolen. She said her assailants then took her to Nahda Square, where
they beat her and threatened to burn her on her face. She said she was held for
four hours.

Hassan told
ONTV after the attack that her assailants approached her with a blood-stained
cloth and claimed it was the blood of individuals they had previously tortured.
She told CPJ and Al-Youm Al-Saba'a that an unidentified man also threatened
to force her to have sex with other men.

The media center for the pro-Morsi sit-in at Nahda Square published
a statement denying
that any journalist had been assaulted. The media center is a group of
pro-Morsi activists and Muslim Brotherhood officials who coordinate media
activities for the sit-in, including arranging interviews.

Ahmed Sibaa, spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and
Justice Party, denied that any journalists had been abducted and told CPJ that
protesters have been clashing with journalists covering the sit-ins because
they are publishing "wrong information and lies" about the events at Nahda
Square and Rabaa Al-Adawiya.

In an unrelated case, Rafidah Yassin, a Sudanese correspondent for
Sky News Arabia, said that on August 8 she was prevented from covering the Muslim
Brotherhood sit-in outside the Rabaa Al-Adawiyamosque in Cairo's Nasr
City. Two men, who identified themselves as security for the sit-in,
interrupted Yassin's live
broadcast, and told her to get permission for coverage from the demonstration's
media center.

Sky News Arabia presenter Amr Amd Elhamid told CPJ that the media
center denied permission to Yassin and asked her and her crew to leave the
area.

In another episode,
a photographer for Al-Masry Al-Youmreported being attacked at
the Rabaa Al-Adawiya sit-in on August 1. Tarek Wajeh said that suspected Morsi
supporters demanded to see his outlet ID, then beat him and seized his camera.
The report did not specify any injuries.

The deeply polarized
Egyptian press has been victimized by all sides in the ongoing political
crisis. Diaa Rashwan, the chairman of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate, told CPJ that the group
has received at least 15 complaints from journalists being attacked while
covering pro-Morsi sit-ins since the former president's ouster in early July. Meanwhile,
the interim government installed by the Egyptian military has shut
down pro-Morsi outlets and restricted
coverage of Muslim Brotherhood activities, according to news reports.